The Washington State Office of the Attorney General disclosed a breach at Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) on January 20, 2023, stemming from an unintentional exposure of sensitive student data. The incident, which occurred on January 4, 2023, involved the mistaken disclosure of 708 individuals' names and student ID numbers—likely due to a flaw in the university’s billing automation system. While no financial, medical, or highly sensitive personal information (e.g., Social Security numbers) was compromised, the exposure of student identifiers poses risks such as targeted phishing, identity fraud, or unauthorized access to linked academic records.PLU responded by reprogramming the billing automation process and introducing additional verification checkpoints to prevent recurrence. The breach did not involve external cybercriminal activity, ransomware, or systemic vulnerabilities but resulted from an internal procedural error. The impacted data, though limited in scope, could still undermine trust in the institution’s data-handling practices and potentially lead to reputational harm if exploited maliciously.

The Washington State Office of the Attorney General reported a data breach by Pacific Lutheran University (PLU) on April 18, 2017. The breach, discovered on January 26, 2017, involved a phishing cyberattack that potentially affected the personal information of 813 Washington residents, including names, Social Security numbers, driver's license numbers, financial information, and dates of birth.